Although every MOOC has the potential of being "international", this is the first one I have participated in that is hosted by a University outside of the US. This raises interesting points, some I have considered before, and some new.
Timezones - I have discussed supporting different timezones in online learning before, and ocTEL is driving those points home for me. Even though the vast majority of this MOOC's content is asynchronous, there are bursts of activity at different times than I am used to, and it adds more delay into responses from colleagues. It's really just an inconvenience, but I get used to receiving responses rapidly, even in asynchronous modes, from colleagues in the same time zone.
Syntax - Acronyms are not universal! Even date formats differ! I will admit, it's making me think to rearrange 15/4/2013 to 4/15/2013. I'm not arguing who is right or wrong, which is better, or which makes more logical sense, but I am used to seeing the date in a particular format, and having it different causes me to think. This is not a bad thing, just an observation! Exercise the brain!
Local law/policy/regulation - whether it is district, regional, city, or national, different places have different standards, rules, policies, and laws. Practices most certainly differ. While in broad strokes, many things are the same, in the details one finds the differences. Pay attention to the details.
Embrace exploration - What an opportunity participating in a MOOC like ocTEL is! All the sharing with colleagues, learning new things, and networking, potentially much more than at a conference, without the hassles of travel or the expenses! I am grateful for the opportunity and for the effort put forth by the organizers. Thank you!
Now, thinking about Week 1, and TEL Practices and Approaches; my philosophy has been to always remember to stay focused on the content topic and not get lost in teaching the technology (unless the course is ABOUT the specific technology). For example, in an introductory computer course, teach about the concepts of computing and applications, and not become a training course in the application itself. Teaching about spreadsheets should be about the concepts of spreadsheets, and not just specifically MS Excel. Additionally, we should strive to expose and introduce students to multiple application platforms when teaching concepts, as much as is available and applicable. To further use the spreadsheet example, it is alright to use MS Excel, but also use OpenOffice and Google Docs spreadsheet. Do the same examples in multiple places so students can see the similarities and the differences, and also be able to understand the differences between core concepts and application-specific instructions.
#ocTEL #tel #edtech #adult_learning #learning
Doctoral student in Adult and Online Learning; IT Director; Director of Distance Learning and Educational Technology.